Here’s a SB #5C I picked up at an estate sale. I actually had a frown on my face when I first spied it because I had just finished looking at some overpriced saws in very sorry condition. The eight dollar price tag changed that and I was absolutely beaming when I discovered the three patent dates behind the frog making it a Type 11—the very type I collect.

When I first got into rehabbing vintage planes, I sanded the hell out of them. Did my best to make the sides square to the bottom and everything gleam. Years later I do the minimum necessary to make it a good user while pleasing to the eye.

Before:

Note the rust, rust everywhere. Since it wasn’t a nice grey patina, I sanded off the rust. The left side of the plane has a few deep scratches and they’re not exactly square to the bottom. Don’t care. I already have a Veritas LA jack dedicated to shooting duties.

very nice. i’ve learned from reading the plane type studies that the Type 11 is a real sweet spot in the history of Stanley planes. That high knob started with Type 12, but I suspect some made it on to Type 11 bodies at the transition, or it was simply switched out at some point. Since I’ve been looking at a lot of planes recently, I see “transitional” bodies and features “the tween times” with attributes from one type to the next. I was outbid by just a gnats behind on fleabay on a #6, type 11. Settled on a Type (mid-red in the Stanley lever cap notched rectangle) 13 from a good home, and sold by an organization that i admiire. Hey, wait a minute. I think I can see my reflection in that knob…

-- God is great, wood is good. Let us thank Him for wood......and old hand tools.